


Compliment War

by screwtodayimsleeping



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Complimenting, Fluff, Lots of it, M/M, compliment war, this is really cheesy guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 14:58:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13572990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/screwtodayimsleeping/pseuds/screwtodayimsleeping
Summary: In light of the paladins struggling to work together, Allura suggests they try complimenting each other to increase team bonding. Count on Lance and Keith to turn it almost into a little competition.





	Compliment War

**Author's Note:**

> WHOO It's been so long since I posted anything, but I'm trying to get back into these types of things.  
> The story idea is from a tumblr blog called softklanceday and her little blurbs are always so cute and well thought out. So this goes out to Carol and her prompts, and I'm glad I finally got myself to write one of them out (I wish I could do them all, honestly).  
> This takes place sometime in season 3, since Shiro isn't there at first (also what is the canon timeline I have no idea lol)

“Dammit, Lance!” Keith yelled, throwing his helmet on the floor of the training deck in anger. “You were supposed to give me cover there at the end of the sequence, not run ahead and try to take them out on your own!” Lance shot him a nasty glare, crossing his arms and sniffing. “I was making sure that we weren’t going to be bothered by the wave that was coming from that direction! If I hadn’t taken care of them, we would’ve been hit even sooner, asshole!”

Pidge sighed, letting her bayard detransform and fall to her side. “I think I agree with Keith on this one, Lance. The goal of training was to practice giving cover while trapped, so running off like that left a gap in our defenses.” Lance huffed angrily, turning away from her. “Why is it so hard for you all to admit that I gave us even a few more seconds? I helped!”

Allura straightened from where she had been assessing broken pieces of the drones the team had destroyed before their formation had broken and everyone had quickly gotten tagged out. She stepped between the three paladins who were glowering at each other, sidestepping a vaguely nervous Hunk, and stood with finality. “Enough! It really doesn’t matter who’s fault it was, because we all still ended up failing. If this had been an actual attack, we would all have died.”

The paladins shot guilty looks to the floor as the princess continued on. “This team needs to be able to listen and respect each other. It’s one of the more important traits of a successful team, and integral to one such as Voltron.” She paused for a moment, considering something, before her face brightened and she clapped her hands with finality.

“I believe then that it would be a good idea for all us of to practice verbally supporting each other. For each exercise we do as a team, each member must have received some kind of genuine compliment from at least one other person. In fact, this will apply to outside of training, too. I would guess it would be good to keep this up for a few weeks.” Allura beamed, proud of her decision.

Pidge raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I’m not entirely sure how genuine you can expect some of us to get, Princess. I’m not even sure what kind of benefits would come from just complimenting each other all the time.” Suddenly Coran’s voice came over the speakers, voice loud and boisterous as it could be. “Encouraging and complimenting each other will create a stronger bond of trust and affection between the team and allow for all of you to work together harmoniously. It is a splendid idea, Princess.”

Hunk smiled. “I agree! I think it’ll be good for us to complement each other like this.” Lance grinned and elbowed his larger friend. “Oh Hunk, it’s so easy to compliment you. Like, you’re one of the most supportive people on this team!” Hunk laughed a little and scratched at the back of his neck. “Oh, well thanks Lance. You didn’t have to start already.”

Lance confidently shouldered his bayard, grinning to himself. “Oh I rock at giving compliments. And I rock at receiving them too! So this is gonna be great.” Behind him, Keith rolled his eyes and Pidge sighed quietly. Allura nodded before transforming her bayard back into its weapon. “Well then, lets do another round. And remember to find things to complement each other on while we work together.” She paused for a moment as the paladins activated their bayards and Keith put his helmet back on. “Coran, begin that training sequence again!”

 

 

“Dude, Pidge, that was a sick takeout you got there at the end!” Lance instantly gushed as soon as the sequence had ended. The team had focused less on fighting with each other and had actually completed the level without any of them falling into the room below. Now that all the drones lay in bits across the floor, Allura had called an end and the team allowed themselves to relax.

Pidge quirked a grin at Lance, removing her helmet. “Yeah, it was pretty awesome if I say so myself.” She turned to Allura, her grin becoming more sincere. “Hey Princess, you were smart to suggest that specific formation at the start of the second stage. It helped us keep our ground.” Allura flushed very slightly. “Oh, well, thank you Pidge.”

Hunk slapped a hand down on Lance’s shoulder. “Lance, my man, those sniper shots were epic. Like, you took out the ones in the distance before we could even focus on them properly!” Lance preened at the praise, his whole face lighting up. “Aww, Hunk, you great gassy genius! You helped a ton with the distance too! You took out the entire lower section of drones all on your own!” Hunk grinned and looked away. “Yeah, that was pretty awesome.” Allura stepped forward. “Lance said what I was going to tell you, so I will simply second what he said. It increased our chances by a large margin and was a smart move.” Hunk smiled sheepishly. “Aww, guys, thanks.”

It was only a few moments later that Lance realized he hadn’t heard a certain mullet haired paladin’s voice. He turned to look for him and saw him walking towards the exit quickly and with his shoulders tense, as if trying to avoid anyone talking to him.

Maybe it was because Lance was feeling good from the successful run they had just had, or maybe he was making sure he was playing fair (and would get more compliments by doing so), that he suddenly called out, “Hey, Keith!” and jogged slightly towards where the other was still headed. Keith froze before slightly turning back and looking at him with confusion. Behind Lance, the other three paladins stopped and watched the encounter.

“Hey, um…” Lance started, wracking his brain for something positive to say. It wasn’t like there weren’t positives, per say. Lance was suddenly feeling embarrassed about complimenting Keith. “Those were some nice moves out there,” he finally says, awkwardness clearly in his voice as he held his gaze on Keith for a few moments before looking away and shifting back and forth. Keith was looking at him with wide eyes.

“Though I bet I got more drones than you,” Lance blurted out, his competitive nature and natural tendency to rip on Keith coming through despite the compliment. Keith stayed frozen for another moment before a small, uncomfortable and awkward looking smile appeared on his face. “Uh, thank you, I guess.” He turned away and continued walking, but the paused and turned back. “But, uh, nice shooting. You’ve gotten better.” Then he quickly made his way through the exit and left.

Lance stared after him, not sure whether to feel complimented or slightly let down. “Huh,” he finally said, before he straightened fully and crossed his arms. “Well at least it was something.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It became very normal for Hunk to receive compliments every time he prepared the food goo. He would always smile and shrug a little before saying something like, “No big deal,” and setting himself down to eat with everyone else. Pidge would receive compliments on her technological genius, particularly whenever they went on missions that required her knowledge. She would be showered with praise from Lance and Hunk, with enthusiastic words from Allura and an awkward but honest compliment from Keith. She would either get very smug or suddenly act shy depending on the amount, and would always mumble something in return for everyone.

Most of Lance’s compliments to Allura were more flirtatious in nature, but they were still received with only a small groan on Allura’s part. Whenever Pidge or Hunk said something, she would smile and take it happily, sometimes flushing from the attention. She always seemed slightly unsure whenever Keith would very occasionally say something to her, but she would accept it nonetheless.

Lance drank up every compliment he got with a wide and often cocky smile. Of course he deserved all these compliments! They were often times ego boosting and made him proud of what he was able to accomplish. Besides, it felt good to have people finally making notice of his sharpshooting skills.

Keith was always slightly awkward about the whole thing. Whoever decided to compliment him would usually have something simple and to the point, and he would accept it with a small smile and nod, usually saying something in return. While his compliments sometimes were vague or over something very small, it was clear he was being genuine and honest.

Compliments between Lance and Keith were always just a little different. At first whenever one would seek out the other, they would barely look each other in the face, saying a quick sentence to the other and receiving one in return. However, after about a week they were able to give passing compliments with no problems, going as far as to grin at the other and slap each other’s shoulder in passing.

“Hey, Keith, that was a really epic dodge you had during training today,” Lance declared one day when he walked into the kitchen. “Also, hi Hunk,” Lance said when he saw Hunk and Keith there, Hunk baking something while Keith watched off to the side, cleaning his knife. Keith looked up and smiled a little, hopping off the counter where he had been sitting. “Thanks. You made a pretty good shot too. It was kinda impressive.”

Lance grinned smugly and leaned against a different counter. “It actually was pretty impressive.” Hunk snorted slightly, mixing whatever bright pink concoction in his bowl. The three chatted for a few minutes before Keith left, pausing before saying over his shoulder, “By the way Lance, blue is a pretty good color on you.” Then he left through the door, it hissing behind him.

There was a pause in the kitchen and Hunk looked over at Lance, who looked a little confused. “Dude, did he just say blue was a good look on you?” Hunk questioned. Lance blinked slowly before nodding slightly. “I think he did.”

Besides the comments that Lance usually directed at Allura, compliments never really passed into complimenting each other’s looks territory. So it was suddenly very interesting that Keith of all people would say something so casually like that, and to Lance as well.

Hunk smiled and continued mixing. “Well he isn’t wrong. Blue works well on you, dude.” Lance snapped out of his thoughts and grinned at Hunk. “Aww Hunk, thanks dude. You look pretty great in yellow yourself.” The two laughed and continued chatting in the kitchen until it was time for dinner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This is part of the exercise and all, so I guess I am allowed to say that Keith, you are really pretty, man.”

Everyone on the bridge stopped and looked over to where Lance was casually leaning against the black paladin seat where Keith currently was sitting. Keith was staring at him with wide eyes and an almost lost look on his face while Lance looked back as if what he had just said was a completely average compliment.

Hunk and Pidge shot each other a look with arched brows while Allura looked very confused. There was complete silence for a few moments before Keith smiled a little sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, looking away from Lance. “Oh, uh, you too, Lance,” he said, his shoulders hunching up to his ears as he continued looking away from the other. Seemingly satisfied, Lance nodded and headed to his own seat, completely oblivious and missing the lightest tint of pink that crossed Keith’s cheeks and ears.

It didn’t go unnoticed by the other paladins, though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keith and Lance seemed to have gotten into a compliment war. They still bickered, but now their bickering included more roundabout compliments and praises to the other. At times they would be shouting at the other, Lance yelling things about how Keith needed to take credit for an excellent flight maneuver he had done with Black and Keith firing back how Lance had clearly formed a good bond with Red, going as far to declare that Lance was clearly a talented pilot. That had only stopped Lance for a moment, surprise crossing his face, before he kept going, his cheeks reddening and somehow getting into a conversation about how unfair it was that Keith had perfect pores.

Hunk, Pidge, and Allura were bemused if not a little exasperated about the entire thing. If anything, Pidge would tune them out for as long as she could before sighing and leaving to find somewhere quieter. Hunk would wonder if he should intervene because it was getting too heated or let it be since they were technically still encouraging each other. Allura would usually just leave once their voices raised.

One day, after a particularly hard mission, Keith and Lance walked out of their hangars and down the hallway, leaving the others behind as they argued and fired compliments back and forth about the battle and the other’s skills, voices steadily rising as they walked. Pidge removed her helmet and joined Hunk and Allura, who were coming from their own hangars.

“Y’know, I think the team is doing pretty well,” she commented, rubbing absentmindedly at a spot on the visor. “We’re forming Voltron decently quickly and the team seems to be pretty in sync.” Hunk hummed his agreement, and Allura nodded. “It is definitely good to have the team working together. I believe that the few weeks we had spent encouraging one another helped.”

Hunk suddenly turned to the two others. “I know that us three kept to that several weeks thing, but its been nearly 2 months now, and those two keep going.” Pidge huffed. “Yeah, I don’t know whether to congratulate them for being so positive towards each other for so long or to just tell them that they can stop because it’s giving me a headache.”

Allura made a noncommittal noise. “They do seem to be behaving better towards each other overall. In fact, I would venture to say maybe even a little flustered at times.” Pidge and Hunk hummed their agreement, the three of them remembering several occasions where the compliments had gone practically straight to flirting, despite being yelled, and where both Lance and Keith ended up having flushed faces, though whether from yelling or embarrassment, it wasn’t certain.

Hunk yawned and stretched an arm behind his head. “Well, I don’t see anything too wrong with it. As long as it doesn’t get to punching or anything. Not sure how well that’d go down with the team dynamic.” He waved goodbye to the girls as he left to get a snack in the kitchen, Pidge and Allura following before all going their separate ways.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Hunk? Can you keep a secret?” Hunk looked up from the tracking gadget he was working on to look at Lance, who was laying on his back on Hunk’s bed, looking straight up. “Yeah, of course, Lance. I’m your buddy; nothing you say will leave this room.”

There was a pause before Lance shifted around, his voice sounding a little nervous. “Well, y’know how Keith and I have been… y’know, uh… complimenting each other a lot?” Lance’s voice broke a tiny bit on Keith’s name. Hunk nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty hard to miss since you guys do it all the time.”

Lance swallowed loudly. “Well, um…see the thing is that I, uh…” Lance fumbled for a moment before continuing softly, “I kinda started to actually mean what I’ve been saying a few weeks ago.”

Hunk paused and lowered the gadget, turning to look at Lance, who now had an arm thrown over his eyes and very red ears. “Well, I mean, that’s good. I’m glad that you are able to mean what you say,” Hunk cautiously began, but Lance shook his head violently.

“No, like…I really began to _mean_ them. Like all the stuff I’ve said about how Keith has a really strong looking body and how his pores are somehow so clean and even the stuff about how he keeps the mullet looking good. I just… _mean_ them.”

There was silence for a moment before Hunk scooted closer to his bed, eyes wide. “Lance, are you telling me that you have a crush on Keith?”

Lance let out a piteous groan of hopelessness and rolled over, slightly curling into himself. That was all the answer Hunk needed. “Woah, dude, you have a crush on Keith!” Hunk said wonderingly. Lance let out another pitying sound. “It’s so embarrassing, Hunk!” And then Lance rolled over to face him and let his arm fall to the side, revealing his flushed face and wide eyes as he began to rant.

“Like it works out because we’re both in this compliment war, and he totally thinks that it’s just the exercise thing, and it’s really easy to come up with stuff because honestly there’s just so much, but I gotta make sure he doesn’t realize, because how lame would that be? I just developed all these feelings because I actually started looking at him to figure out kind things to say, and then I just found so many amazing things about him!” Lance continued to ramble, his face rapidly heating up as he vented.

“But I gotta act like it’s all just a competition, because if he realizes that I actually mean all of this stuff and that I think he’s really pretty and his eyes are like frickin gems and its really hot how he can just take down the gladiator within a few minutes and how I really do value him as a leader, then he’ll probably completely avoid me because I’m the loser who just had to go and develop feelings for our leader, and then what will that do for Voltron?” Lance let out a huge whoosh of air and collapsed, finally catching his breath from ranting so much.

Hunk sat speechless next to the bed, unsure for a minute as to what to say as he processed everything Lance had just told him. Finally a few points came to mind and he scooted closer, catching Lance’s attention.

“Lance,” Hunk started firmly, “You are not a loser, and no one thinks that, crush or not.” Lance flushed gently at that, but Hunk continued. “Listen, I can practically guarantee that Keith doesn’t suspect a thing. In fact, I think he really enjoys hearing all those compliments you throw at him.” Hunk paused before wiggling his eyebrows. “And I’m sure you definitely enjoy hearing the kinds of things he has to say back.” Lance pushed his face into Hunk’s pillow and nodded, clearly embarrassed.

“So really, it’s completely up to you what to do about it. If it’s too much, all you have to do is stop complimenting him. Or you can keep going.” Hunk reached over to pat Lance on the back. “Honestly, he isn’t going to find out about your crush on him unless you tell him. Keith can be a little dense like that sometimes.”

Lance was quiet for a minute before he lifted his face from the pillow, a grateful smile on his face. “Thanks, Hunk,” he said. Hunk grinned widely. “No problem. But since I heard it first, it means I get to be best man.” Lance groaned again and let his face fall back into the pillow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several weeks later, the compliments were still happening. They had found Shiro about a week and a half back and he was recovering easily and accommodating back to being in the castle. When he first had heard Lance and Keith yelling compliments at each other, he had looked very confused and had looked at the other paladins and the Princess for an explanation. He hadn’t gotten much besides several shrugs and Pidge’s bored declaration of, “They do that now.” However, a few days later his reaction had gone from questioning to almost amused exasperation.

It was becoming almost too much for the other members of the castle. It appeared that the two were very dense about the things they were telling each other, easily shouting things like how hot the other had looked during training or how pretty their skin looked that day, their faces flushing as they yelled until they would either stomp off in a huff or it would taper down to an awkward drawl until one of them slinked out of the room.

Pidge had found out about the crush one day by simply cornering Lance until he had finally admitted it, to where she simply lightly slapped his arm and grumbled about how he should just tell Keith to end all of her misery. At this point, it was almost certain that Allura knew, though she hadn’t gone to ask Lance about it. Even Coran would shoot the boys knowing looks before going on his way, occasionally making comments about how good it would be “once those two have sorted themselves out.”

It was an average type of day when it finally happened. Everyone was gathered in the control room, originally to plot out the next location to go to based on the closest distress signal, and a few small comments quickly had Lance and Keith out of their seats, standing defensively in front of each other with narrowed eyes and crossed arms.

“What, you want to tell me that you _DON’T_ have good abs?” Lance huffed angrily, reaching out to sharply poke Keith in the gut. “I’ve seen you train, Keith, I know what they look like, and they are some really good abs!”

Keith glowered at Lance, getting close to his face. “Oh yeah? Well I still can barely shoot for shit, and yet you can just aim and take perfect shots within a second. You talk about my abs? Your arms are incredible, with their strength and precision. Don’t get me started, it’s crazy how accurate your long-distance aim is and it’s easy to be jealous of it.”

Pidge groaned from her seat and Hunk just sighed. Shiro looked like he wanted to facepalm and Allura kept shooting the two annoyed looks. Lance moved closer, connecting their foreheads and talking directly into Keith’s face, his breath coming out harsh with his words.

“It doesn’t matter about my aim! I’m just a shooter! You ended up being an incredible leader! You learned how to lead the team and listen to all of us, and you know what? I felt really special and happy when you actually listened to my advice and what I had to say, because you made me feel valid about myself!” Keith pushed against Lance, eyes widening and nose flaring.

“I only did so well because you were so encouraging and believing in me! I couldn’t have done anything to lead this team without you there, and it meant so much to me having you as my right-hand man! I needed you, Lance. I still need you!”

“Well I need you too, Mullet!” Lance had reached out to grip Keith’s arms, holding him tightly in place. “I need your badass, silky haired, impulsive but selfless and still really hot self!” Keith went rigid as he practically roared in Lance’s face. “And I need your amazing, smooth skinned, sharpshooter, encouraging and highly attractive self!”

“This is still part of the exercise, but I love you!” Lance bellowed.

Keith didn’t even miss a beat. “Well good, because I love you too!” he yelled back, hands gripping Lance’s forearms against where Lance still held on.

And then there was proper silence for the first moment in nearly fifteen minutes, with only the hum of the ship traveling through space permeating the sudden lack of yelling. Hunk’s mouth had dropped open and Allura’s eyes were wide. Pidge’s eyebrows had raised nearly to her hairline, and Shiro actually did facepalm then, shaking his head back and forth.

After a few moments, suddenly it became obvious that the two teens had processed exactly what they had said, and Keith’s face slowly heated up until nearly his whole face was red and his ears were burning, while Lance’s face had practically just exploded with dark shades of blush. They stared directly at each other with wide eyes and mouths slightly open.

It was Allura who finally broke the silence. “Well, I think I need a snack. Hunk? Shiro? Pidge? Care to join me?” She was already heading towards the door. The other three were quick to get up and follow, Pidge mumbling a “finally” as she left and Hunk shooting a thumbs up at Lance before the door slid shut and then the two were alone on the bridge.

Keith was the first to move, his grip loosening as he started to pull back. “I’m sorry, forget what I- “But he was cut off as Lance gripped tighter, pulling Keith back towards him slightly. Keith swallowed, his eyes searching Lance’s nervously but also full of another vulnerable emotion. “Lance, I- “

“Did you mean it?” Lance said, his voice coming out steady despite his flushed face and slightly shaking arms. Keith blinked at Lance a few times. “Which part?” He asked quietly. Lance swallowed visibly, eyes widening when he saw Keith’s eyes follow the movement. “Technically all of it, but like- “He paused swallowing again before finishing, his voice quiet and shaking, “-the last part.”

Keith stared into Lance’s eyes, eyes that he had many times called blue as sapphires and blue as the ocean back on Earth, eyes that now brimmed with desperation and almost hope. He forced himself to think properly and said, “Well, you said it was just part of the exercise.” He looked down, breaking that piercing gaze on him.

There was silence, every tick that passed seeming so loud and never-ending. But then Lance leaned forward and placed his forehead against Keith’s, and Keith let out a small gasp. He watched Lance’s chest rise and fall with a deep breath, and then Lance’s voice came to him, soft and intimate in the space between them.

“Well I might have been lying about that part.”

Lance pulled back enough so they could focus on each other’s faces, still very close together and their breaths echoing against the other’s lips. Shining blue met deep grey-violet, speaking so many things at once to each other. Lance’s hands relaxed against Keith’s arms and one slid up to his shoulder while the other went straight to cup gently around Keith’s cheek, where he smoothed the pale skin with his shaking thumb.

“What about you, Keith,” he asked, voice open and raw. Keith lifted a hand to rest against the one on his face and grasped Lance’s shirt with the other. “Did you mean it?”

This time Keith was the one to lean forward and press their foreheads together, closing his eyes and taking a steadying breath. “Yeah,” he breathed out. “I meant it. All of it.”

And then Lance chuckled, a light and airy sound, but full of so much relief it made Keith grip tighter to Lance. “That’s a relief,” Lance murmured. He pushed his head further against Keith’s, bumping their noses momentarily. “Because I meant all of it too.”

Keith nearly sagged against Lance, relief flooding his body in a rush. Lance smiled and pulled his face just a little closer, letting out a gentle sigh. “Hey Lance?” Keith whispered. “Yeah?” “I’m gonna kiss you.” “Ok.”

Only the mice hidden in the corner were around to see their first kiss, faces gently flushed and hands holding the other tenderly as galaxies passed by on the screen behind them. It was only after the fifth kiss that the mice finally left and scampered to the kitchen to tell Allura.

“Hey, does this mean I can actually start using proper pickup lines on you instead of just compliments?”

“Shut up Lance. Just come here and kiss me.”

 


End file.
